Spurs face test against potent Rockets

SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs have been dominant on defense this season, ranking second behind only the mighty Pacers in defensive efficiency for their highest place since 2006-07.

But despite limiting their opponents to 97.6 points per 100 possessions, cracks have begun to show in what had been a virtually impregnable front. Their past 12 opponents are averaging 103.8/100, including 106.3/100 over the last five to rank 18th in the NBA over that span. Head coach Gregg Popovich has noticed, and he’s pushing the Spurs to patch up their leaks.

“Pop’s been talking a lot about our D, improving our defense lately,” Tony Parker said. “It’s the biggest room for improvement. Our offense is going to be there. We’re going to move the ball and we’re going to score. But if we want to beat the good teams, we have to improve defensively.”

The Spurs’ slippage began against the team they’ll face tonight at the AT&T Center, the explosive Houston Rockets. Paced by James Harden’s 31 points and 13 3-pointers, they won the first meeting 112-106 on Nov. 3.

The Rockets continue to rank among the NBA’s top offensive teams, ranking fourth in 3-point makes (9.4 per game), first in free throw attempts (31.2 per game), eighth in fastbreak points (15.8 per game), third in points in the paint (50 per game) and third in overall efficiency (107.3 points per 100 possessions).

“Houston is a challenge,” Parker said. “They’re going to push the ball and James Harden is hard to guard. There will be different matchup problems when they go small. They had a good game against us last time, shot the ball very well. We had a good opportunity to win the game, it just didn’t happen.

“I hope we can play a little bit better. They’re going to take a lot of 3s. Transition D is going to be important.”